The present invention relates in general to depth controls for milling machines and the like, and in particular to a new and useful multi-stop depth control which conveniently sets a plurality of depths of cut for a milling machine.
Multi-position depth setting stop arrangements are known for drill presses, milling machines and the like. One such arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,964 to Needham, Jr. This arrangement utilizes a rotatable collar which carries a plurality of bolts one of which is positionable to abut a stop surface of the drill press or milling machine. The collar with bolts is mounted on the carriage which carries the rotating tool carrying shaft. The movable carriage is thus unnecessarily increased in weight. This weight also is necessarily applied off-center to the center of rotation of the tool carrying shaft which also may cause small amounts of bending in the shaft which may be particularly important in milling machines where exact alignment of the cutting tool is a necessity.
It is also known to provide retrofit equipment for milling machines particularly widely used milling machines such as the BRIDGEPORT milling machine. BRIDGEPORT is a registered trademark of the Bridgeport Machine Division of Textron, Inc. One example of such equipment is a quick change tool carrier for BRIDGEPORT milling machines disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,059,066 and 4,128,043.
Such milling machines have also recently been equipped with computerized equipment for moving the milling machine table in the horizontal direction. The inclusion of a vertical control which operates on the quill, or rotary shaft carrying portion of the milling machine, substantially increase the cost of such controls. An example of such horizontal and vertical control arrangements is known under the trademark of DynaPath System 10 of the Bendix Corporation. DynaPath is a registered trademark of the Bendix Corporation.
It would thus be advantageous to provide a multi-stop control arrangement for the vertical axis of a milling machine.